How Bourdain writes is what sets him a part from the rest because he favors laying out the truth over romanticizing suffering. His writing style is subversive and inflammatory, of course, and offensive at times because it’s meant to drag myths surrounding the restaurant business out into the open and flaying them. Lots of chefs before him have published similar books with similar contents detailing their childhoods, education, training, first jobs, first restaurants, rise to fame, etc etc, but none had the sense to tell it like it really is. What Bourdain did by writing a tell-all memoir about the life of a chef running a popular restaurant is nothing new. That’s the impression I got from this book, that it’s meant to be a snapshot of life in a restaurant kitchen. You talk and overshare to take the edge off. Restaurant people talk a lot because that’s what happens when you share such a high stress environment and tight confining space that’s littered with sharp pointy blades. The term “restaurant secrets” is an oxymoron. The point is the things in this book are an open secret. You might even see yourself in the book somewhere. You might recognize a few of the characters due to having worked with or screamed at or wished you could have stabbed at one time or another during your time as part of the kitchen staff. If you have ever worked in a restaurant, there isn’t anything in this book you don’t already know. The public was just shocked and amazed because this was around the time the “celebrity chef” was born (and how we all cringed while facepalming). So by taking a stand against all that blatant advertising and product placements, Bourdain got the public’s attention and he didn’t disappoint. And it’s coming from an experienced gourmet chef too. His back-to-basic take on food, at the time this book was written, was revolutionary. Well, his exact words are “ there’s no room for pretentious assholes in my kitchen“–same difference. There’s no room for pretentiousness in good food. That last one is his personal favorite saying.

Good food = fresh, high quality ingredients + basic cooking skills.

The other 40% survive by sheer luck and good karma.

60% of people who go into the restaurant business end up failing.

Every time you eat out is an adventure and a risk.

All you’ll ever need is a chef’s knife–just one, a sharp one.

Bourdain is a man of many talents, and one of them is picking up slangs in different languages quickly and adapting to accents.

If you happen to find this book in audio, don’t hesitate to listen.

Kitchen confidential cover